


the thing in the water

by Menhera_Piers



Series: Burying The Gross Stuff In This Ship Tag [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe- Merfolk, M/M, Misgendering, Neopronouns, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Walks On The Beach, merfolk have an entirely different concept of gender, sonia's a professor and has her own assistants, vague descriptions of serious injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26627407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menhera_Piers/pseuds/Menhera_Piers
Summary: Rose finds Leon washed ashore, unconscious and hurt, and decides to help.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Rose | Chairman Rose
Series: Burying The Gross Stuff In This Ship Tag [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936294
Comments: 20
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Rose never believed in merfolk.

Sailor's tales after they'd been at sea too long and misidentified Pokemon, later modified into children's stories to fuel their imaginations and childhood sense of wonder. That was all.

Or so he'd thought until now.

He'd just been taking a normal walk along the shore at night (he was having trouble focusing lately and these sorts of things always helped him clear his mind) and found something, or rather  _ someone _ , washed ashore.

They were face-down (likely unconscious), tangled in a fishing net, unmoving, and had several gaping, bloody wounds in their tail.

.....he had to be seeing things.

Nevertheless, he knelt down to get a better look. They were still breathing, but it was quick and shallow.

He pulled out a pocket knife and grabbed the very-real fishing net before cutting it away and putting it in the nearby garbage can, again making sure they were still breathing before rolling them over onto their back and doing his best to patch up their wounds with the first aid kit he always carried out of pure paranoia.

This would mark the first time it came in handy.

* * *

After failing to wake them back up and much deliberation, he decided to take them back home and try to figure all of this out in the morning. He put them in the bathtub and did his best to match the water's temperature to the ocean's temperature that night. They still didn't wake up, but they certainly seemed much more comfortable once they were in the water again.

He made sure they were still breathing one last time before leaving and heading to his room. 

It was late, he was tired, this was beyond weird, and he had work in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, another new fic that isn't a oneshot? What a shocker.  
> Feel free to get on my case about my other WIPS, but I'm a hyperfixating bitch with a short attention span, sue me.  
> I'm excited to see where this one goes!


	2. Chapter 2

......well, they were definitely awake now.

They seemed surprisingly calm about the situation, other than the fact they were currently biting onto Rose's arm. Not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to hurt.

"Look, listen-- I'm not gonna hurt you, I called an acquaintance over and she's gonna keep an eye on you for the time being, but I have to  _ take you to her. _ "

The aquatic creature just stared at him blankly with wide, golden eyes.

It didn't occur to Rose that it might not understand Galarian.

"......okay, let's just hope you don't have the means to seriously-injure-slash-kill me." Without further warning, he pulled them out of the bathtub with a bit of effort (but seemingly no protest from the creature other than a low growl as they let go of his arm) and started to carry them downstairs. If they were to somehow stand up, they'd be taller than Rose, and they definitely weren't light, which didn't help.

"You're heavier than you look, you know that?"

Another blank stare.

Rose got to the door and opened it with one hand. Sonia stood on the other side with a large metal cart holding a large glass tank full of water.

"Hello, Rose! I take it that's the creature you were talking about?"

"Indeed it is."

"Uh-huh. Just put it in the tank and I'll take it back to the Lab."

"What, you're just gonna walk?"

"No, I got a ride here and they'll be taking me back."

"Fair enough. A little help?"

"Mm-hm."

With some difficulty, the two managed to get them in the tank and put the cover on to keep the water from splashing out and to keep the creature from trying to get away.

They seemed to wake up a bit in the water, blinking a few times before grinning, showing off their sharp teeth, and relaxing at the bottom of the tank.

Now that it was daylight, Rose could see them better. More specifically, the creature's tail. It looked almost exactly like a Milotic's, long and slender and with four large fins joined together at the end, the only major difference being the smaller fins near their hips and the fact the pattern was _ purple, gold, and black _ rather than pink, blue, and black. The pattern broke where their wounds had been patched up.

Then again, Rose hadn't been paying attention when he was tending to their wounds, he just didn't want them to bleed out. He hoped they didn't mind.

"Alright, I'll be on my way now. You're gonna be late, y'know."

"Yeah, I can explain when I get there."

"If you say so. See ya!"

With that, Sonia began dragging the cart and tank away and out of sight. Rose just went back inside to get ready for work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapters are coming, I promise--


	3. Chapter 3

Several days went by before Rose decided he would go to the lab to see how the (creature? Merperson?) was doing. He was wondering if Sonia had any findings she'd like to report, too.

They'd been recovering well, wounds already starting to heal and ability to swim almost unaffected. According to Sonia, they couldn't talk judging by the fact they'd only communicated via noises, and they were really jumpy around people.

She'd encouraged him to try and establish a form of communication on his own, seeing as he was the one who helped them, and led him to where they were being kept; a pool in one of the back rooms of the lab.

They appeared to be asleep in one of the bottom corners of the pool, purple hair flowing in the still-moving water.

"Hello?"

They opened their eyes (which seemed to glow a bit underwater, but that was probably just his imagination) and stared at Rose, but didn't move.

"Sorry about a couple of days ago. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and Sonia's smarter than I am. She and the others have been taking good care of you here, but I wouldn't even know where to start." He chuckled awkwardly and sat cross-legged near the edge of the pool.

They cocked their head slightly and swam a bit closer, now partially out of the water. Interestingly, their hair stayed visibly dry and fluffy.

"There's probably a lot of questions you have about all of this, but you have to keep in mind, those questions can't be answered if you don't communicate." He paused. "Then again, you might not even speak Galarian."

The creature just stared blankly as he tried out a few phrases in other languages, but got closer still, leaning on the edge of the pool with the upper half of their body out of the water.

".......nothing, huh?" He looked away. "Maybe you really can't talk."

".......you.... you saved my life." Their tone was low and quiet and their voice was slightly gravelly, presumably from lack of use.

Rose was taken aback. ".....yes, I did."

"Why?"

"I had no reason  _ not  _ to. Who would I have been to let you bleed out there? That's just basic compassion."

".....you didn't know me. You  _ don't  _ know me. You got nothing out of it."

Rose didn't have any response to that. After a few moments of empty silence, they spoke again.

"Sonia talked about you. She called you Rose. Is that your name?"

"Yes. What's your name?"

"....Leon." They sank back down into the water a bit so that they were submerged from the shoulders down.

"Leon." He thought for a moment. "That's a lovely name."

"I suppose." Leon shrugged.

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

They blankly stared at Rose again before sighing and looking away. "Thank you."

With that, they sank down to the bottom of the pool and went back to sleep.

Rose got up and left, not wanting to bother Leon.

* * *

"Hey! Did you get anything out of the crea--"

"Leon. Their name is Leon."

Sonia paused, then nodded. "Did Leon say anything else?"

"Nothing important, no."

As selfish as it may have been, he wanted to keep Leon's 'thank you' to himself. It meant a lot.

"Oh, okay. Were they hostile with you, or...?"

"No, they actually seemed pretty withdrawn. Have they been hostile with other people?"

"They bit me when I tried to coax them out of the pool for an examination, and again when I tried feeding them for the first time." She rolled up her sleeve and showed Rose the still-healing bite marks on her arm. "I'd given them plenty of warnings, too, so it wasn't just that they were startled."

"Huh. Guess Leon doesn't trust you, then."

She snickered. "Apparently not."

"Are you okay, though?"

"Nah, it's fine, they seemed sorry enough afterward. Hurt for a while, but I didn't get an infection or something, so it's not  _ all  _ bad."

".....if you say so."

She rolled her eyes and tugged her sleeve back down. "Anyways, I have some things to take care of, so there's no real point in you sticking around unless you wanna help."

"I  _ would  _ like to help, actually."

"Oh, okay." She picked up a closed cardboard box and handed it to Rose before starting to leave the room. "C'mon."

He stared at the box for a moment before following her.


	4. Chapter 4

So began a routine.

Rose would go to work, go about his day, stop by the lab to check in with Sonia and talk to Leon, and go home.

Leon started to warm up to him, speaking a bit more freely and being a more active participant in conversation. They even answered Rose's questions.

.....okay, they answered Rose's questions  _ most of the time _ .

Half of the time.

A third of the time.

Rarely.

Didn't really matter, it wasn't all that important. Just the fact Leon was talking at all was progress.

Meanwhile, their physical condition continued to improve further still. Sonia had remarked their healing time further served to prove how nonhuman they were, as if that proof was needed.

It'd been a week or so by now, and everyone was more-or-less adjusted to it.

"Hey, Leon?"

"Hm?"

"How come you're usually asleep or swimming in circles whenever I show up?"

Leon just stared at him for a moment before hesitantly answering. "I have nothing else to do."

"......wait, what?"

"They don't.... they don't give me anything to do. I get bored."

"Do you tell them you're bored?"

"Yes." They swam up to the edge of the pool and leaned on their elbow, looking off to the side. ".....well, I don't tell Sonia because I don't see her that often anymore. Those other people just ignore me."

They seemed oblivious as Rose stood up. "I.... am going to go  _ have a talk _ with them."

"About what?"

"Arceus, they give  _ Pokemon _ toys and things to do and games to play and whatnot, but they have  _ you _ , a creature not that far removed from a  _ human _ , in a plain room with a pool and absolutely  _ nothing  _ to do! It has to be hell for you, considering you don't even have  _ any  _ social interaction outside of examinations, feeding time, and our little  _ chats _ , while you're used to living in the  _ sea _ , probably in some big family group! That's  _ downright unethical _ _!_ " He stopped and took a deep breath. "I... I'll be back in a bit."

"Oh. Okay." Leon shrugged. "I'll be here."

* * *

Leon waited.

They could hear faint shouting from another room. Too muffled by the walls to make out the words, but still clear enough to tell the speaker was far from happy.

Most likely Rose giving Sonia's assistants a piece of his mind. They couldn't quite understand why it was such a big deal to Rose, seeing as the two still didn't know each other that well, but Rose  _ had _ been correct in all of his statements during his short rant and they  _ were  _ starting to lose their mind a bit in here.

They pulled themself out of the pool to sit on the edge with the lower half of their tail still in the water and began to braid their hair, something they'd do often before they were injured. A shame they didn't have any kelp or pieces of trash to secure it like they used to back in the ocean.

After a few more minutes of waiting, one of Sonia's assistants walked in, closely followed by Rose.

"Leon?" The assistant moved to get closer, stopping at the edge of the pool near Leon.

They narrowed their eyes and went back into the pool, getting as far away from her as possible.

"We're going to be making arrangements to transfer you somewhere else, okay? You've healed well enough to where it's safe, plus then you won't be so bored and lonely."

It took a moment, but Leon surfaced again and gave her the death glare. "And you're not even going to tell me where you'll be putting me?"

She sighed. "An aquarium in Wyndon. You'll be placed in the largest tank, so you won't have to engage with visitors unless you want to, and you'll be able to interact with the Pokemon being kept there."

They opened their mouth to say something, but quickly closed it and dove back into the water, purposely splashing the assistant.

She just stood there, shocked and completely soaked.

Rose had to resist the urge to laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose ended up being  _ very  _ late for work that day.

Leon refused to get into the transfer tank, thrashing and biting and just generally being very stubborn, no matter what the others said or did, so they called Rose for assistance, knowing Leon trusted him at least somewhat.

Not that Rose could blame them, the transfer tank was small and had to be very uncomfortable. He managed to convince them to get into the tank without putting up a fight and was about to leave when the next problem arose: the actual transport.

See, Wyndon was quite a long way from Wedgehurst, and Rose had convinced Leon that they wouldn't have to be in the transfer tank for very long, so all they had to do was tolerate it for a short while and then it'd be over.

Obviously, this irritated the mercreature, who started trying to push the top off of the transfer tank, but they calmed again when Rose said he'd go along if it meant Leon didn't try to cause any more problems.

So now he was in the back of the truck with Leon, keeping them company while informing Oleana of the situation over text.

* * *

"The roads aren't nearly as rough as I anticipated."

Leon shrugged and tapped on the side of the tank to get the other's attention before gesturing for him to take the top off of the tank.

"......can't hurt." He went over and carefully removed the cords before sliding the cover off.

Leon sat up and stretched a bit, leaning on the side of the tank and frowning. "Are we there yet?"

"Don't start that. You're not a child."

"You know I don't understand human social norms. Let me do my thing. You don't even have to interact with me anymore once I'm transferred."

"Fair enough."

"You still didn't answer my question."

Rose just sighed and shook his head. "No, we're not there yet, and we won't be for a while."

"Oh." They looked down at the bottom of the tank. "Okay."

Several minutes passed before either of them spoke again.

"What was it like back home?"

"Hm?"

"Before all of this. What was it like?"

Leon smiled. "I was part of one of the bigger pods out there. I had a few... the Galarian word is 'friends', right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay. I had a few friends, two siblings, and my mother, but apart from them, I didn't really associate with the others except when needed."

"Makes sense."

"Hop and I would play games a lot. Xe are also really good with Pokemon. I remember xe went to the surface once and made friends with a Wooloo." They chuckled a bit.

"Is Hop one of the siblings you mentioned?"

"Yep! The other's Raihan. We aren't  _ related _ related, but we've been close ever since we were pups, y'know? So they may as well be my other sibling."

"Ah."

"Do you have any friends like that?"

"......I don't have friends."

Leon cocked their head a bit, almost like a confused Pokemon. "That's sad. How come?"

"I'm not very good at connecting with people like that. That's all. I do have a brother, though."

"What's he like?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard from him in years. Last I remember, though, we didn't exactly get along."

"Why?"

"Look, aren't I the one supposed to be asking the que--"

He was cut off by the truck shifting as it hit a particularly large bump on the road. Leon couldn't help but laugh at how bewildered he looked.

"You were saying?"

"......nevermind. Didn't your mother teach you to mind your business?"

"I ask questions because 'small talk', as you call it, is impolite back home."

"......right."

"I won't push it. It seems to be a sensitive subject."

"Thank you."

"No problem, I guess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mermaids are aquatic mammals. This is a hill I'm willing to die on.


	6. Chapter 6

They talked like that for quite some time, just enjoying one another's presence and catching up.

Though eventually the truck slowed to a stop. Rose hurried to put the lid to the tank back and just barely managed to get the cords tied again before the back of the truck opened.

Leon's tank was put on a dolly and rolled into the building. Sonia watched for a moment before turning to Rose and gesturing for him to follow her, which he did.

He was led to a door in the back and Sonia used a black key on the lock before pushing it open with some effort and walking in. Rose followed still.

"Sure is quiet in here...."

"Well, they did close to visitors for the day."

"True." She shrugged. "What tank did they say, do you remember?"

"That woman only said 'the largest tank'. Not exactly helpful but better than nothing."

"No, that's actually very helpful. It's, uh.... this way." She pointed to the door on the left of the room and headed in that direction. "Have you ever been here? This is like, the main tank as well, figured you would've known that if you'd been here."

"I was around 4 the last time I was here."

"Sheesh."

They didn't talk much the rest of the way. After a bit of walking, they reached a flight of metal stairs, and Sonia began to go up them.

"C'mon, this is where they'll have taken Leon."

Rose nodded and followed her.

When they reached the top, there was a metal platform surrounding the top of the tank. Looking down, Rose could see plenty of Pokemon swimming to and fro, some appearing to be playing and one or two coming to the surface out of curiosity. He thought it was interesting.

A loud, metallic thud resounded through the "room", and everyone turned to face Leon, who had somehow broken the cords and pushed the lid of the tank off before glaring at the aquarium worker who was standing closest to the transfer tank.

"Ready when you are, Leon."

"'m ready, just get me out of this thing."

The worker wheeled the dolly closer to the edge of the platform, and Leon carefully pulled themself out of the small transfer tank before diving into the aquariums. After getting their bearings again, they quickly swam away to the right.

"Wonder what's gotten his interest," the worker remarked.

"Their, not his."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Neither does your disrespect toward them. They may not be human but they still deserve basic decency at the very least. Please respect them or I'll personally contact your superiors."

That shut the worker up. Rose forced a smile before going back downstairs, though he could hear Sonia running after him.

"Sonia, please don't do that, you could fall and seriously injure yourself," he called back toward her after reaching the bottom and heading into the room where the tank was displayed.

She nearly stumbled and had to stop to catch her breath once she caught up to him. "No, that-- Hah, that was pretty awesome of you."

"Not really, they had to excuse to do that."

"Still."

"Fine, whatever you say. I just know what it feels like and it's awful."

"Sorry, what?"

"Misgendering." He sighed. "I'm _trans_ , Sonia."

"....oh." She paused, then chuckled. "Sorry, I'm a little slow. Sorry for making assumptions before, I guess?"

"It's fine, I'm not exactly open about it."

"When you say trans, do you mean like..." She thought a moment, trying to figure out how to word it. "Do you still want me to use he/him and they/them for you, or...?"

He nodded. "Yes, those are my pronouns."

"Okay, just wanted to double-check!" She smiled and gave an awkward thumbs up before skipping ahead of Rose toward the tank. "Let's see, where did Leon go...?"

"Well, from what I saw, they went right, so they're probably over there." He gestured vaguely.

"Right, okay."

* * *

It took a bit longer than expected, but they eventually found Leon, who quickly swam up to them and put their hand on the glass, tilting their head and staring at the two.

Sonia took this opportunity to leave, wanting to go look at the section with the Mantyke anyway.

After a moment, Rose got the hint and hesitantly put his hand on the glass as well.

Turns out Leon's hands were bigger than his, and there was translucent purple webbing between their fingers. He looked up at Leon, who simply grinned.

Of course, the moment was ruined by Rose's phone ringing. He'd completely forgotten Oleana had said she'd call him in a bit.

He had to leave and get to work as fast as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like writing casual coming-out scenes.


End file.
